El Dorado County, California

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For the California wine region, see El Dorado AVA.
County of El Dorado
—  County  —
A scene from El Dorado County

Seal
Location in the state of California
California's location in the United States
Country  United States
State  California
Region Sierra Nevada/Gold Country
Metro area Greater Sacramento
Incorporated February 18, 1850[1]
County seat Placerville
Largest city South Lake Tahoe
Area
 • Total 1,788.10 sq mi (4,631.2 km2)
 • Land 1,710.85 sq mi (4,431.1 km2)
 • Water 77.25 sq mi (200.1 km2)
Population (2010)
 • Total 181,058
 • Density Bad rounding here100/sq mi (Bad rounding here39/km2)
Time zone Pacific Standard Time (UTC-8)
 • Summer (DST) Pacific Daylight Time (UTC-7)
Website www.edcgov.us

El Dorado County is a county located in the historic Gold Country in the Sierra Nevada Mountains and foothills of the U.S. state of California. The 2010 population was 181,058. The El Dorado county seat is in Placerville.

The population of El Dorado County has grown as the Greater Sacramento has expanded into the region. In the unique Lake Tahoe area of the county, environmental awareness and environmental protection initiatives have grown along with the population since the 1960 Winter Olympics, hosted at Squaw Valley Ski Resort in neighboring Placer County.

Contents

History [edit]

Main articles: Sutter's Mill and California Gold Rush
Local landmarks:

Demographics [edit]

Historical populations
Census Pop. %±
1850 20,057
—
1860 20,562 2.5%
1870 10,309 −49.9%
1880 10,683 3.6%
1890 9,232 −13.6%
1900 8,986 −2.7%
1910 7,492 −16.6%
1920 6,426 −14.2%
1930 8,325 29.6%
1940 13,229 58.9%
1950 16,207 22.5%
1960 29,390 81.3%
1970 43,833 49.1%
1980 85,812 95.8%
1990 125,955 46.8%
2000 156,299 24.1%
2010 181,058 15.8%
[2][3][4]

2010 [edit]

The 2010 United States Census reported that El Dorado County had a population of 181,058. The racial makeup of El Dorado County was 156,793 (86.6%) White, 1,409 (0.8%) African American, 2,070 (1.1%) Native American, 6,297 (3.5%) Asian, 294 (0.2%) Pacific Islander, 7,278 (4.0%) from other races, and 6,917 (3.8%) from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 21,875 persons (12.1%).[5] The largest growth in the county has come in El Dorado Hills where the population grew by 24,092 residents to a total of 42,108 since 2000.[5]

Population reported at 2010 United States Census
The County
Total
Population
White
African
American
Native
American
Asian
Pacific
Islander
other
races
two or
more races
Hispanic
or Latino
(of any race)
El Dorado County 181,058 156,793 1,409 2,070 6,297 294 7,278 6,917 21,875
Incorporated
cities
Total
Population
White
African
American
Native
American
Asian
Pacific
Islander
other
races
two or
more races
Hispanic
or Latino
(of any race)
Placerville 10,389 8,716 80 162 98 13 867 453 1,863
South Lake Tahoe 21,403 15,733 182 232 1,186 39 3,230 801 6,665
Census-designated
places
Total
Population
White
African
American
Native
American
Asian
Pacific
Islander
other
races
two or
more races
Hispanic
or Latino
(of any race)
Auburn Lake Trails 3,426 3,190 6 28 36 5 45 116 208
Cameron Park 18,228 16,242 143 194 425 36 461 727 2,056
Camino 1,750 1,604 7 14 18 4 55 48 197
Cold Springs 446 413 4 5 3 0 15 6 43
Coloma 529 462 4 3 8 0 15 37 63
Diamond Springs 11,037 9,743 39 176 110 6 518 445 1,377
El Dorado Hills 42,108 35,089 615 196 3,563 71 681 1,893 3,802
Georgetown 2,367 2,128 47 59 18 2 45 68 177
Grizzly Flats 1,066 954 6 14 7 2 19 64 96
Pollock Pines 6,871 6,195 18 128 56 3 251 220 713
Shingle Springs 4,432 3,919 14 108 50 3 132 206 469
Tahoma‡ 780 736 2 7 7 0 11 17 35
Unincorporated
communities
Total
Population
White
African
American
Native
American
Asian
Pacific
Islander
other
races
two or
more races
Hispanic
or Latino
(of any race)
All others not CDPs (combined) 56,226 51,669 242 744 712 110 933 1,816 4,111
‡ Note: these numbers reflect only the portion of this CDP in El Dorado County

2000 [edit]

As of the census[6] of 2000, there were 156,299 people, 58,939 households, and 43,025 families residing in the county. The population density was 91 people per square mile (35/km²). There were 71,278 housing units at an average density of 42 per square mile (16/km²). The racial makeup of the county was 89.7% White, 0.5% Black or African American, 1.0% Native American, 2.1% Asian, 0.1% Pacific Islander, 3.6% from other races, and 3.0% from two or more races. 9.3% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race. 14.9% were of German, 13.4% English, 10.3% Irish, 6.6% Italian and 6.6% American ancestry according to Census 2000. 90.5% spoke English and 6.5% Spanish as their first language.

There were 58,939 households out of which 34.2% had kids under the age of 18 living with them, 60.1% were married couples living together, 8.9% had a female householder with no husband present, and 27.0% were non-families. 20.1% of all households were made up of individuals and 7.3% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.63 and the average family size was 3.04.

In the county the population was spread out with 26.1% under the age of 18, 6.8% from 18 to 24, 27.8% from 25 to 44, 26.9% from 45 to 64, and 12.4% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 39 years. For every 100 females there were 99.5 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 97.3 males.

The 2000 census also states that the median income for a household in the county was $51,484, and the median income for a family was $60,250. Males had a median income of $46,373 versus $31,537 for females. The per capita income for the county was $25,560. About 5.0% of families and 7.1% of the population were below the poverty line, including 7.6% of those under age 18 and 5.0% of those age 65 or over.

Geography [edit]

According to the 2000 census, the county has a total area of 1,788.10 square miles (4,631.2 km2), of which 1,710.85 square miles (4,431.1 km2) (or 95.68%) is land and 77.25 square miles (200.1 km2) (or 4.32%) is water.[7] The phenomenon of exurban growth has affecterd the western part of the county, with a growth of semi-rural homes over the last thirty years and high levels of NIMBYISM over further population growth.[8]

Recreation [edit]

Parks [edit]

Skiing [edit]

Wineries [edit]

Shopping [edit]

Transportation infrastructure [edit]

Major highways [edit]

Map of El Dorado County in Northern California

Public transportation [edit]

  • El Dorado Transit runs local service in Placerville and surrounding areas (as far east as Pollock Pines). Commuter service into Sacramento and Folsom is also provided.
  • BlueGo is the transit operator for the South Lake Tahoe area. Service also runs into the state of Nevada.

Airports [edit]

General aviation airports are include: Placerville Airport, Georgetown Airport, Cameron Airpark and Lake Tahoe Airport.

Cities and towns [edit]

El Dorado County Courthouse, Placerville

Incorporated Cities

Communities over 10,000 population

Communities under 10,000 population

Politics [edit]

Presidential election results
Year GOP DEM Others
2008 54.1% 50,314 43.6% 40,529 2.2% 2,083
2004 61.2% 52,878 37.3% 32,242 1.4% 1,244
2000 58.3% 42,045 36.4% 26,220 5.4% 3,871
1996 51.8% 32,759 36.3% 22,957 11.8% 7,480
1992 39.9% 25,906 32.4% 21,012 27.7% 17,969
1988 59.3% 30,021 39.1% 19,801 1.5% 781
1984 64.9% 27,583 33.7% 14,312 1.4% 583
1980 58.3% 21,238 29.5% 10,765 12.2% 4,446
1976 47.7% 12,472 48.8% 12,763 3.5% 919
1972 54.2% 11,330 41.4% 8,654 4.4% 921
1968 49.0% 7,468 39.7% 6,054 11.3% 1,719
1964 39.5% 5,775 60.3% 8,810 0.2% 25
1960 49.2% 6,065 50.1% 6,175 0.8% 97
Election results from statewide races
Year Office Results
2010 Governor Whitman 56.2 - 38.6%
Lieutenant Governor Maldonado 55.6 - 32.8%
Secretary of State Dunn 53.5 - 37.4%
Controller Chiang 46.1 - 45.7%
Treasurer Walters 51.3 - 41.0%
Attorney General Cooley 60.4 - 29.4%
Insurance Commissioner Villines 53.6 - 33.8%

El Dorado is a predominantly Republican county in Presidential and congressional elections. The last Democrat to win a majority in the county was Lyndon Johnson in 1964 election, and the last Democrat to win the county was Jimmy Carter in the 1976 presidential election. The county is noted as a center of political concern with the United Nations non-binding sustainable development plan Agenda 21, which was on the County Board of Supervisors meeting Agenda on May 15th 2012. Concerns included the threat of U.S. Forest Service road closures and traffic roundabouts.[10] On February 19th 2013 14 members of the El Dorado County Grand Jury resigned, forcing Supervising Judge Steven Bailey to dissolve it.[11]

El Dorado County is in California's 4th congressional district, represented by Republican Tom McClintock.[12] In the State Assembly, the county is split between the 5th Assembly District, represented by Republican Frank Bigelow and the 6th Assembly District, represented by Republican Beth Gaines.[13] In the State Senate, it is in the 1st Senate District, represented by Republican Ted Gaines.[14]

Asbestos [edit]

Portions of El Dorado county are known to contain natural asbestos formations near the surface.[15] The USGS studied amphiboles in rock and soil in the area in response to an EPA sampling study and subsequent criticism of the EPA study. The study found that many amphibole particles in the area meet the counting rule criteria used by the EPA for chemical and morphological limits, but do not meet morphological requirements for commercial-grade-asbestos. The executive summary pointed out that even particles that do not meet requirements for commercial-grade-asbestos may be a health threat and suggested a collaborative research effort to assess health risks associated with "Naturally Occurring Asbestos".[16]

In 2003 after construction of the Oak Ridge High School (El Dorado Hills, CA) soccer field, the federal Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry found that some student athletes, coaches and school workers received substantial exposures. The inside of Oak Ridge High School needed to be cleaned of dust.[15]

See also [edit]

References [edit]

  1. ^ "Chronology". California Counties. California State Association of Counties. Retrieved 2012-05-14. 
  2. ^ http://www.census.gov/population/www/censusdata/cencounts/files/ca190090.txt
  3. ^ http://factfinder2.census.gov
  4. ^ http://mapserver.lib.virginia.edu/
  5. ^ a b "2010 Census P.L. 94-171 Summary File Data". United States Census Bureau. 
  6. ^ "American FactFinder". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved 2008-01-31. 
  7. ^ "Census 2000 U.S. Gazetteer Files: Counties". United States Census. Retrieved 2011-02-13. 
  8. ^ http://jpe.library.arizona.edu/volume_19/beebe.pdf |Craig Beebe and Stephen M. Wheeler. 2012. Gold Country: the politics of landscape in exurban El Dorado County, California. Journal of Political Ecology 19: 1-16
  9. ^ Freel Peak
  10. ^ Carlos Alcalá (May 24, 2012). "El Dorado County folks riled by U.N. agenda for sustainable growth". Sacramento Bee. Retrieved March 10, 2013. 
  11. ^ Cathy Locke (March 10, 2013). "The Public Eye: El Dorado County grand jury disbands after mass resignation". Sacramento Bee. Retrieved March 10, 2013. 
  12. ^ "California's 4th Congressional District - Representatives & District Map". Civic Impulse, LLC. Retrieved March 1, 2013. 
  13. ^ "Members Assembly". State of California. Retrieved April 5, 2013. 
  14. ^ "Senators". State of California. Retrieved April 5, 2013. 
  15. ^ a b Raloff, Janet (July 8, 2006), "Dirty Little Secret" (– Scholar search), Science News [dead link]
  16. ^ Meeker, G.P.; Lowers, H.A.; Swayze, G.A.; Van Gosen, B.S.; Stutley, S.J.; Brownfield, I.K. (December 2006), Mineralogy and Morphology of Amphiboles Observed in Soils and Rocks in El Dorado Hills, California, United States Geological Survey 

External links [edit]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: El Dorado County, California
Placer County Douglas County, Nevada
Sacramento County
  El Dorado County, California  
Amador County Alpine County
Municipalities and communities of El Dorado County, California, United States
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Unincorporated
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Former
settlements
Footnotes

‡This CDP also has portions in an adjacent county or counties
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Coordinates: 38°47′N 120°32′W / 38.78°N 120.53°W / 38.78; -120.53

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